Tangle

In the past week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were involved in deadly shootings in Texas and Maine. On Monday, in Biddeford, Maine, an officer shot and killed a man who allegedly disregarded orders to stop his vehicle and attempted to flee. Separately, on Tuesday, July 7 in Houston, ICE agents shot and killed a man whom they accused of “weaponizing his vehicle” during a traffic stop. State and local officials have called for investigations into both incidents.

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Is ranked-choice voting in trouble?
In 2020, Alaska voted to overhaul its election system, adopting top-four open primaries and ranked-choice voting in the general election. Opponents tried — and failed — to repeal the new system in 2024, but another repeal effort is on the ballot in 2026. Earlier this year, Senior Editor Will Kaback traveled to Alaska to talk with advocates on each side and investigate what Alaskans really think of their new system. We’ll publish the full report next week, but for a sneak preview, you can watch the trailer here.

You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.

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Take the survey: Does U.S. immigration enforcement need reform? Let us know.

Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast written by: Isaac Saul and audio engineered and edited by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.

Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
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On Monday night, the U.S. carried out its third straight day of strikes against Iran, the latest in a series of military engagements that began last week. On Friday, President Donald Trump notified Congress that the U.S. had resumed military activities against Iran as of July 7, when U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported engaging in “retaliatory strikes” following Iran’s strikes on vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The resumption of military engagement follows weeks of increasing tensions as peace negotiations stalled.

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You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Under the radar” story ⁠here⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.

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Take the survey: How long could the war last? Let us know.

Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast written by: Will Kaback and audio engineered and edited by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.

Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
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On Saturday evening, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) passed away at age 71 after what his office called a “brief and sudden illness.” The nature of the illness was initially unknown, though news outlets reported that emergency services were dispatched to a Washington, D.C. home owned by Graham and administered treatment to a man suffering from cardiac arrest. On Sunday, Graham’s office said a preliminary examination found he died of “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”

Also in today’s edition, we cover the Prairieland incident and an under-the-radar story about the January 6 case against members of the Proud Boys. Don’t forget to check out Friday’s reader mailbag, too, if you missed it. Today’s email is a 13-minute read.

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You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Under the radar” story ⁠here⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.

You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.

Take the survey: How will you remember Sen. Graham’s legacy? Let us know.

Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast written by: Isaac Saul and audio engineered and edited by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.

Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At Tangle, we want to be a source of trustworthy news, thought-provoking analysis, and robust community engagement. As part of that commitment, we interact with the community in several forums — the website comment section, our Subtext texting service, our Reddit page, our staff email, and at live events. We also answer reader and listener questions throughout the week in our newsletter and podcast. Every few months, after we’ve built up a queue of queries from readers and listeners, we dedicate a Friday edition to answering some of your questions and feedback en masse.

Today, we’re opening up the mailbag to tackle a range of topics, from press accountability, to the true cost of the Iran war, to the Hurricane Helene recovery, to a Texas law mandating Biblical teachings, and much more. We’ve pulled our whole editorial team together for this one, and identified which member of the staff was responsible for answering each question, though the whole team participated in editing every reply.

In the spirit of this edition, let us know your thoughts (and other questions) in the comments. Enjoy!

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You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.

Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast written by: Isaac Saul, Will Kaback, Audrey Moorehead, Russell Nystrom, Isaac Wood, Carina Pacheco, Ari Weitzman and audio engineered and edited by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.

Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past week, lawmakers have expressed increasing concern about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) health, roughly three weeks after the senator was hospitalized for still-unknown reasons. The hospitalization is the latest in a string of health-related incidents for McConnell, which have raised questions about his fitness for office. On Wednesday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) asked McConnell’s office to provide a “[full] update” on the senator’s status, citing increasing concern “about the current state of your health and wellbeing.”

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Audrey joins the pod.
In this week’s episode of Suspension of the Rules, Associate Editor Audrey Moorehead dropped into Managing Editor Ari Weitzman’s chair while he enjoys paternity leave. We discussed the Graham Platner scandal, whether he would actually drop out (we got our answer last night), and why we think the allegations are credible. Then, we talked about Mitch McConnell’s mysterious health issues (a topic we dive into today). Check it out here.

You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.

You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.

Take the survey: Should we have age limits for Congress? Let us know.

Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast written by: Isaac Saul and audio engineered and edited by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.

Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.